Nanowires formed of Group III-N alloys (e.g., GaN) provide the potential for new semiconductor device configurations such as nanoscale optoelectronic devices. For example, GaN nanowires can provide large bandgap, high melting point, and chemical stability that is useful for devices operating in corrosive or high-temperature environments.
Conventional nanowire fabrication is based on a vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mechanism and involves the use of catalysts such as Au, Ni, Fe, or In. Problems arise, however, because these conventional catalytic processes can not control the position and uniformity of the resulting nanowires. A further problem with conventional catalytic processes is that the catalyst is inevitably incorporated into the nanowires. This degrades the crystalline quality of the nanowires, which limits their applications.
Thus, there is a need to overcome these and other problems of the prior art and to provide high-quality nanowires, nanowire arrays, and nanowire networks. It is further desirable to provide non-planar nanowires with precise and uniform control of the geometry, position and crystallinity of each nanowire.